Albert D. Lasker

Albert D. Lasker: Defense

= Biography =

Lasker was President of the Lord & Thomas advertising agency. The father of modern American advertising. Clients included The American Tobacco Co., Lucky Strike cigarette (E. Whelan, 1984).

"Having retired from the business in 1938, Albert Lasker entered into a new life of public affairs and philanthropy. He met Mary Woodard Reinhardt, a New York industrial designer in 1939. They were married in 1940 in New York. His financial contributions and active promotional activities were responsible for major expansions in the nation's medical research activities. He and Mary established the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to support medical research. In 1944, he spearheaded a fund raising drive that nearly doubled the amount of money spent on cancer research in the United States. He pursued the idea of getting the federal government more involved in medical research. Through Lasker's efforts the National Institutes of Health was established over the period of 1946- 1950. During this period he became ill and on May 30, 1952 he died at the age of 73."


 * In Memoriam, American Foundation for AIDS Research

Related Sourcewatch

 * Mary Lasker